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Google still the word on iPhone search box

Microsoft talks Apple into Bing option

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Google is still the default search engine on the iPhone, though Apple has added Microsoft Bing as an alternative.

As Steve Jobs unveiled the latest iPhone at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco this morning, he confirmed that despite the growing rivalry between Apple and Google – and rumors that Microsoft was muscling for the default spot – Mountain View has not lost its prime placement on the Jobsian handset. This, at least, is the word from countless live blogs of Jobs' speech, including Ars Technica's. The Apple cult leader forbids The Reg from actually attending such events in the flesh.

In January, BusinessWeekreported that Apple and Microsoft were discussing Google's ejection from the iPhone, and just last week, TechCrunch reported that Bing would indeed replace Google on the latest version of the handset. But the truth is a little different.

Google has been the default search engine on the iPhone's Safari browser since the handset debuted in 2007, but you've always had the option of switching the search box to Yahoo! In 2007, Apple and Google were BFFs, with Mountain View CEO Eric Schmidt seated on Apple's board, and the two outfits also developed iPhone incarnations of Google Maps and YouTube.

But since then, Eric Schmidt has resigned from the Apple board, and after Steve Jobs dubbed Google's "don't do evil" motto "bullshit" during an Apple town hall meeting, Google hit back last month at its annual developer conference. Google VP of engineering Vi Gundotra — a former Microsoftee — actually compared Steve Jobs to Big Brother. ®